"The real shock of the Nunes memo" is a CNN Op-Ed by Paul Callan.
He's a leftist legal analyst. Contents are basically a collection of worthless anti-memo, anti-Nunes statements and pro-FISA excuses.

But this 'pearl' was buried in the middle of the article.
quote:
Unlike the street addicts whose testimony often sends criminal defendants to prison for life, the now-notorious Christopher Steele -- a former British intelligence agent -- appears to be, by comparison, a seasoned professional highly adept at gathering reliable information.

Even assuming all the claims in the Nunes memo are true, the grounds supporting issuance and reissuance of the FISA warrants were easily met. The FISA statute, designed to deal with national security issues, permits the secret court to authorize surveillance of a US person if there is probable cause that the person is an "agent of a foreign power...knowingly engaging... in clandestine intelligence activities."

Although the activities might be "spying" for a foreign power, there is no explicit requirement of criminality needed to get a warrant as in a conventional criminal case.

Instructions On Obtaining A FISA Warrant:
(1) Make up a Dossier as the primary supporting source
(2) Pay to plant info from the dossier in the news. (Source #2)
(3) Present the "two" sources to a judge.
(4) Obtain FISA Warrant, as "the grounds supporting issuance and reissuance of the FISA warrants {would be} easily met."

It is stunning this kind of Stalinist garbage would emanate from the American left . . . civil liberties be damed. Essentially this nitwit insists we should provide carte blanche for any American to be a an intrusive surveillance target, entirely at whim of the deep state.

He finds nothing wrong with putting anyone through the equivalent of an electronic cavity search for weeks or months at a time based on fabricated evidence.
Unbelievable this is what we've come to.

Yep.

For stuff like this, I always say the same thing. Totalitarian government's rise on POPULARITY

The Germans didn't hate the Stazi. The Soviets didn't hate the KGB

At the outset, their activities were SUPPORTED by the people

And now. Around half of American citizens are on record. "Please Use the secret police on our opponents"

A Famous Leader once promised, I will fundamentally change America. Apparently that is one promise that he kept. SUCKERS!

Back to the Present:: Just three weeks ago, Speaker Ryan and Nancy Pelosi teamed up to push a reauthorization of #FISA702 over many objections. The Speaker gave a dramatic floor speech about the importance of giving the FBI power to violate everyone's civil rights.